Oh well .... back to domino's line of thought  -   The ......

Well - we know it isn't this - unadventerous - hello.

Pot boiler.

Well done, Countess

pot boiler:  is a novel, play, film  or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit, whose main purpose was to pay for the creator's daily expenses (Wikipedia)

Abacus????

Sorry She_El,

....but can you please explain to me how the answer matches the clue, because I can’t make the connection. 

clue: a cookery book for unadventurous chefs.

Answer: pot boiler

Explanation: is a novel , play, film or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit, whose main purpose was to pay for the creators daily expenses.  

novel = book.... that’s all I can match 😭😭😭😭

I just can’t work it out.  So sorry.

Not a problem Jane.

A pot boiler is a book of no great merit.

A cookery book for unadventurous chefs would presumably contain recipes of no great  merit.

Boiling stuff in a pot would be unadventurous cooking.

Therefore a cookery book for unadventurous chefs could be classed as a pot boiler. 

(cryptic clues are  all about lateral thinking.)